Crucible Guard
The Crucible Guard is the military wing of the Order of the Golden Crucible. For centuries, the Crucible Guard has served as the private security force of the Order of the Golden Crucible, protecting important Crucible facilities and personnel, escorting Crucible inspectors and tithe collectors and defended the Order’s important shipments abroad. After facing horrors of war during the Fall of Llael the new Crucible Guard has been strengthened as never before. It has grown into a self-sufficient army in its own right, armed with new weapons and engines of war it it is one of the most advanced forces in the Iron Kingdoms any enemy it faced Organisation Both the Crucible Guard and the larger Order prefer simple hierarchies to complex ones, thus there is a relatively straightforward chain of command and some titles utilized by the alchemists do not confer authority but instead suggest expertise or mastery over a given field. The Crucible Guard is similarly small compared to a national standing army, its total number being equivalent to a single division of the Cygnaran or Khadoran armies. Instead the Guard favors a smaller number of seasoned fighters with years of experience, allowing the entire army to be outfitted with the highest-quality weapons and equipment at the Guard’s disposal, and logistics for supply chains and for outfitting a battlegroup remain simple, allowing the organization to be strategically mobile and flexible. Commander of the Guard Jean Resson Dagget has ultimate oversight of the Crucible Guard from its headquarters in Midfast but plays a mostly administrative role and coordinates between the Crucible Guard and the Ordic military, and she is in close and frequent contact with Aurum Lucanum Creena Torcail. Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart is the de facto leader of the active army, at least on an operational level. He technically outranks Aurum Legate di Morray in military matters, though in practice he defers to di Morray’s suggestions. The Crucible Guard otherwise functions akin to other large mercenary outfits, with captain as the highest field officer rank, each overseeing a company. The size of a company varies depending on its composition, with the largest being infantry companies and the smallest being Railless companies, which can include as few as twelve vehicles and their crew. Companies are divided into platoons, each under the command of a lieutenant, and platoons are in turn broken into squads, with the lieutenant personally leading a command squad and sergeants commanding the others. Railless platoons consist of four vehicles, with each vehicle acting as its own squad and each vehicle commander equivalent in rank to a sergeant. Companies are distributed to multiple fronts at the discretion of the Commander of the Guard and the Marshal General. Often groupings of companies are led by designated individuals, especially warcasters but a senior company captain can receive a temporary promotion to marshal to handle the duty of commanding subordinate captains. This allows the army to respond quickly on multiple fronts. Specialized companies, such as Railless Interceptor, Rocket Infantry, and Heavy Infantry companies, are often paired with one or more infantry companies as a support element, depending on the strategic objective they have been assigned.No Quarter Prime #6 Military Doctrine Training As the recruits are already veterans their training focuses on f working with the advanced weapons and equipment developed and manufactured by Crucible Arms. The Guard employs an accelerated two-week basic training course which is to determine the suitability of a candidate for the tasks required in the Guard and those that are too far behind are washed out at this stage. After basic training and evaluation, several weeks of training and drilling with weapons and armor follow, during which fresh recruits break into training battalions for the remainder of their instruction. Promising soldiers are given temporary positions in leadership roles in order to determine those best suited for non-commissioned officer status. As the vast majority of Crucible Guard armament relies on alchemical weapons developed by the Order of the Golden Crucible, their training emphasis on mastering the fundamentals of field alchemy. This includes dealing with unplanned alchemical reactions, treating exposure to a range of harmful substances and countering the effects of weapons as diverse as burning oil, corrosive acids to psychoactive fear gas grenades. Those that lack the diligence often fail but can apply for further instruction if their drill instructors consider them otherwise worthy candidates, and individuals with rare or valuable skills are often given special dispensation. Those with other talents that are in demand such as warcasters are given exceptions as competence in performing alchemy is less important than the ability to safely use the specialized weapons, gear, and other tools expected of everyone serving in the Guard. After completing training, most recruits are assigned to Crucible Guard infantry divisions. Soldiers can apply for openings in other roles, such as the heavy infantry or rocketmen, up to four times a year. Those who qualify for consideration receive specialist training tailored to the new role while the rest returned to their original units and can try again after a three-month cooling-off period, during which they are expected to prepare for any subsequent attempts. By the time Crucible Guard soldiers participate in their first battle, they are thoroughly versed in the operation and maintenance of their equipment as the complex equipment are more prone to failure and between battles soldiers must perform extensive maintenance on nearly every item in their possession. Tactics and Stratergies In battle the Crucible Guard prefers to avoid prolonged engagement and instead rely on surgical operations, striking to displace opposing forces as quickly as possible and withdrawing before the counterattack often luring the enemy into the range of allied artillery. Most enemy commanders would prefer allowing them escape rather than facing Dragon’s Breath rockets. When strategy requires Crucible Guard forces to take and hold a position, they rely heavily on deception, asymmetric warfare, and unconventional tactics. Combat alchemists rig structures the opposition is likely to garrison with alchemical booby-traps, poison wells, and other lethal hazards. Infantry take positions with clear lines of sight to snipe the officers of the opposing force or to focus fire on medical personnel, ammunition porters, and ’jack marshals. If an enemy overrun of an infantry position seems likely, the troops are under orders to fall back to a skirmish line of heavy troopers, who establish kill boxes in choked city streets. The Guard’s strategists frequently adjust their tactics before the enemy develops counters. When faced with overwhelming opposition, the Crucible Guard does not hesitate to employ scorched-earth tactics. Saturation barraging of Dragon’s Breath rockets and nonstop bombing runs by rocketman units hammer the field, while warjacks and alchemists poison the air with deadly alchemical gas. While Gauard's forces are protected few other armies can outfit their entire force with comparable equipment. Once the majority of enemy infantry lies choking to death on the deadliest of the Golden Crucible’s innovations, the Guard advances to put to death any survivors in a methodic cleanup action. However such tactics are reserved for the direst of circumstances due to high chance of collateral damage and condemnation by the other militaries of the Iron Kingdoms. Military Forces Known Warcasters * Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart * Lukas di Morray * Syvestro * Athanor Locke * Eira Mackay Warjacks Light * Liberator * Retaliator * Vanguard Heavy * Suppresor * Toro * Vindicator Colossal * Vulcan Battle Engines * Railless Interceptor Units *Combat Alchemists *Crucible Guard Assault Troopers *Crucible Guard Infantry **Officer & Standard *Crucible Guard Rocketmen ** Captain **Gunners *Crucible Guard Storm Troopers *Dragon's Breath Rocket *Crucible Guard Mechanik *Rocketman Ace *Trancer * Prospero * Aurum Legate Alyce Marc * Doctor Alejandro Mosby * Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist * Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter References Category:Order of the Golden Crucible Category:Llael Category:Ord